


Goodbyes

by illcarryyouhome



Category: Black Widow (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Has Issues, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Natasha Romanov-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:09:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26728720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illcarryyouhome/pseuds/illcarryyouhome
Summary: natasha comes back to say goodbye
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Natasha Romanov/Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanov/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Kudos: 29





	Goodbyes

**Author's Note:**

> this was something I've been thinking about for a while, and then completely forgot about, and then just recently remembered. Honestly not sure how good its gonna be or anything haha.

Bruce

Being half a hulk was strange. Strong and smart. He had gotten his life together. While he let everyone else's fall apart.

At least Thor was doing better. Finally started going to the gym. Rocket said that he got to talk to his mom. Not a bad time heist story. Beats his. All he did was talk to some sorcerer. No fighting bad guys. No punching his past self in the face (boy would he love to do that). No heroic self-sacrificing. 

The thought hits him like a bullet. Suddenly he can't breathe. Tears sting his eyes. All he can see is her.

He's sitting at a bar. Surprisingly, he can still get drunk. He thought that since Steve couldn't, his days of making bad decisions and then forgetting about them, were over. Since he never drank for fear of turning into a giant green rage monster, he was pleasantly surprised to learn that his thoughts could still get fuzzy and everything could turn into a joke. He could laugh about how one of the only people he's ever loved has gone away forever for a stupid rock. Or how he never got to say sorry for deserting her because he was too selfish to think of someone other than himself.

He remembered how he had only seen her drunk once. She didn't seem drunk, just off. For one thing, she had been crying, something he had never seen her do before. She told him about how when she was little her best friend was a singer. He asked what happened to her. She just looked off into the distance and gave him the strangest look, a mix of sadness and plain emptiness. He had asked Clint about it the next day. He said that when she gets drunk, she just gets sad. Memories of a childhood that she does everything she can to forget seep back in when her mind is an open book. When he asks about her friend, the singer, Clint sighs, "Yeah I've heard about her. Tasha had to kill her as a final test." Bruce had never forgotten the look on her face. He wanted to find her and tell her that none of it was her fault. But he knew she wouldn't listen. So he didn't try.

He now wishes he had. He wishes a lot of things.

A glass clinks and a red cocktail in a wine glass slides towards him.

He looks up

"Nat?"

She was dressed just like she was the night of the party. The night Ultron appeared. White top with a black skirt that sways just below the knees. Red lips twisted into a soft smile. He had dreamed of her like this. But this didn't seem like a dream.

"Hey Bruce."

He stares.

she reaches behind the counter and begins assembling another cherry red concoction.

"Wha-What're you doing here?"

She smiles. "fella done me wrong."

He knows the next line. Tears are stinging the corners of his eyes. He chokes it out "got lousy taste in men, kid."

"he's not so bad." She looks him in the eye. God, he had forgotten how beautiful her eyes were. Emerald. He never thought he'd see them again. 

"he's hung up on a girl," her eyes twinkle, "can't get his mind off her."

He's staring. She looks so real, but he knows she can't be. Her hair is short and curled, just like that night. Since then, she had dyed it and let it grow out to her shoulders. 

He swallows, "what do you mean?"

She's looking at him again. Those eyes. "She had to say goodbye. He misses her alot."

He's really crying now. "Nat."

She's smiling still. Her eyes look sad. "he's also a huge dork."

He laughs. He can't help it. She laughs too. 

She leans over the counter. "Remember what I said next?"

Of course he does. "Chicks dig that."

She laughs again. They settle into an easy silence. There's fancy jazz music playing in the background.

"I hate jazz music."

She raises an eyebrow. "I'm back from the dead, and that's all you're gonna say?"

he laughs. "are you really back?"

She sighs, "No, sorry. Just for a little bit."

"Why?"

"I already said."

He pauses. "You came to say goodbye?"

She smiles.

" I uh, " he stammers, "listen I'm really sorry about leaving. After Ultron...I was scared, I was selfish."

She looks down. "I know. It's okay."

She looks up. Her fingertips graze his head and she presses a kiss to his cheek. 

"I adore you."

Across the room, a glass shatters. Some drunk guy in a cheap rented suit having an argument with an equally pathetic guy.

He turns to watch the first punch. It's laughable. He grins and turns back, "you know-"

She was gone. 

"Nat?" He looks down the bar. It was just him.

Did he imagine her? Maybe he was really losing it.

His eyes fall on the cherry red cocktail in front of him.

Maybe not. 


End file.
